by King, R. L.
Harrison considered that, still shifting the dice gracefully back and forth between his long fingers. “So it would be safe to assume that any non-mage in a position of power in Las Vegas is likely to be possessed.”
“It’s a good bet,” Stone said, nodding. “I doubt they have enough to possess everyone. Since they have only the two portals to come through—one, now—and those are highly unstable and variable, they wouldn’t have enough forces to blanket one large city and ignore all the others. We have evidence that there are heavy concentrations of Evil in at least some other major cities. So I guess the safe bet would be to assume that anyone you encounter could be possessed, but you won’t find Evil ’round every corner.”
Jason was thinking. “There’s something I wonder, though…”
“What’s that?” Stone asked.
He glanced up at Harrison. “Why you’re still here. Why they haven’t killed you, or at least tried to possess you. You’ve got to be a massive threat to them.”
“Why?” Stone asked. “Up until tonight he had no idea any of this was going on. Just because he might be powerful—and really, no offense, Mr. Harrison, so far we have no proof that you’re anything more than a mildly talented mage with a lot of charisma and wealthy friends—doesn’t mean he’s a threat to their interests. Especially if, as he says, he doesn’t get involved in things that don’t concern him.” To Harrison directly he added with a wry grin, “Your callousness just might have saved your life, my friend.”
Harrison didn’t reply. He set the dice down and picked up the top notebook from the box. “So these notebooks don’t merely contain instructions for how to construct a portal.”
“No. They’re notes regarding the original project that set this whole mess in motion. I’ve been studying them to figure out a way to shut down the portals.”
“And you’ve done so once already.”
“Yes.” Stone shuddered a bit. “I know how to do it now, but as for whether I’ll be able to pull it off again—”
“Let’s just find it first,” Jason said. “We can figure that part out later, once we do.” He looked at Harrison. “So—will you help us? We need to find this portal, and fast. Do you have any clue where it might be?”
Harrison shook his head. “No. I have no idea where it is. I can make some inquiries, but this isn’t the typical sort of thing my sources are used to dealing with. Also, in many cases simply hinting at the source of the inquiry often aids in obtaining the information—in short, it’s well known that it can prove unhealthy to get between me and something I seek. But in this case my direct involvement might cause more problems than it solves.”
“So you won’t help?” Verity asked.
“Not directly,” Harrison said. “Not yet, anyway. But I can offer you something that you might find equally useful.”
“And what’s that?” Jason asked.
“Protection.”
“Protection?”
Harrison nodded. He got up and moved over to the window, gazing out over the Strip. “One other thing you might not be aware of is that you’re currently the subject of a massive search, and there is a significant price on your head.”
Stone stared at him. “You’re joking.”
“I never joke, Dr. Stone. It’s the reason I asked my associates to pick you up in the first place. I was curious as to why very nearly the entire Las Vegas machine has suddenly mobilized to locate three people who’ve only been in town less than two days.” He turned back around, regarding Stone. “You and your friends are in a great deal of danger. I can help you with that.”
“How?” Jason asked.
“To begin, I can offer you a safe base—one that it would be extremely difficult for the Evil, no matter how powerful they might be, to penetrate.”
“How can you ensure that, Mr. Harrison?” Stone asked. “You just heard me explain that there’s no way to know who they’ve possessed. And since you had no idea of their existence until less than an hour ago, then for all we know they might already be controlling any number of your associates.’” He looked around the room. “Where are we, if I might ask? Which hotel?”
“The Obsidian,” Harrison said.
Stone looked surprised. “Really? That was our first guess where the Evil’s local headquarters might be, honestly. How can you be sure the bosses here aren’t possessed?”
“You’ll just have to trust my judgment on that, Dr. Stone,” Harrison said with an enigmatic half-smile.
“That still doesn’t answer the question, though,” Jason said. “How can you be sure that the Evil can’t get to us in this base? And even if you can, we still need to be able to move around—we can’t find the portal if we’re sitting on our asses in some room.”
“The place I have in mind is highly warded,” Harrison said. “If you can provide me any information about the nature of the Evil, I can alter the wards in such a way that they won’t be able to cross them. And very few individuals are even aware of its existence.”
Stone nodded. “Fair enough. I can help you with that. But that still doesn’t explain how we’re to go about our search for the portal.”
“First things first, Dr. Stone,” Harrison said, moving back over toward them. “For now, let me take you to the place I described, and we’ll make the alterations to the wards. The rest can wait until tomorrow.”
Chapter Thirty-Seven
An hour later, Stone, Jason, and Verity sat on a sofa in the front room of an opulent suite on one of the Obsidian’s top floors, contemplating the events of the evening. Jason still wasn’t entirely sure the whole thing hadn’t been a dream, or that they hadn’t made a big mistake.
Harrison had departed a half-hour ago, after working with Stone to tune the suite’s wards to keep out the Evil. He had effortlessly manipulated the magical forces surrounding the area, taking his pattern from Stone’s descriptions of the Evil’s “energy signature.” When finished, he bid them good night and told them to expect a visit from one of his employees soon.
“What will that ward do to the Evil?” Verity asked as he prepared to leave. “How will we know it’s working?”
“It will kill it,” Harrison said.
“Kill it?” Jason stared at him. “The Evil, right? Not the person it’s possessing?”
“It won’t kill the host,” Harrison said. “But they won’t find it a pleasant experience. It won’t be difficult to see that the wards are functioning.”
“Too bad you can’t do that to the whole hotel,” Verity said.
Harrison favored her with a what makes you think I can’t? sort of look, but didn’t comment further.
Once they were alone, the first thing Jason did was pour himself a stiff drink from the suite’s well stocked bar. “I could get to like this,” he said, “If I wasn’t still worried we can’t trust that guy.”
Stone shrugged. “We haven’t a choice, have we? I think if he wanted to, he could make life very unpleasant for us. The mere fact that he hasn’t done means that either he’s toying with us, or that he has no current desire to.”
“You think he really is as big a deal as he’s trying to make us think he is?” Jason asked. All three of them sat close to each other. They’d turned on the stereo and kept their voices low; if the suite included listening devices (and none of them were naive enough to think it didn’t) at least anyone monitoring them would have to listen hard to hear their conversations.
“Quite probably,” Stone said. “You didn’t see what he was doing with those wards, and how easily he did it. I can build one to keep the Evil out, but not one that will kill them. And certainly nothing as large as he’s managed.”
“Maybe when this is all over you can get him to teach you,” Verity said.
“You think he’s a black mage?” Jason asked. “Because he sure as hell doesn’t seem like a white one to me.”
> “I don’t know what he is.” Stone sighed. “The way he used magic—it’s not in keeping with the methods of a black mage, but I don’t think he’s a white one, either. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he follows a completely different path than any mage I’ve ever met. But right now, I don’t care if he gets his power from a pact with the Easter Bunny, as long as he really can help us deal with the Evil.”
“So what do we do now? Just wait?” Verity asked. She had begun prowling around, checking out the suite. It was the size of a small house, with four bedrooms each with its own full bath; a small, well stocked kitchen and bar; and furnishings that, if it were a hotel room, would probably have put its nightly charge so far out of their budgets that they’d barely have conceived such a thing existed. The living room area had one large floor-to-ceiling window that afforded the same breathtaking view of the Strip as the room in which they had met Harrison.
Stone shrugged. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but it’s after three in the morning. I plan to take a nice, long shower to rid myself of Eau de Sewer and go to bed. At some point you simply have to trust that the whole world isn’t out to get you. If he wanted us dead, I’m confident he could have killed us already. Several times over, in fact. Therefore, until I see otherwise, I’m inclined to trust him—while keeping my eyes open and my wits about me, of course.”
He stood. “I do wish he’d given me back those notebooks, though. I hope he intends to, once he’s had his fill of looking them over.”
The rest of the night and half the next day passed without incident. All three of them slept well and long, and didn’t venture back out into the front part of the suite until almost one o’clock. When they did, they found to their surprise that someone had apparently been inside while they were sleeping.
A clothing rack stood in the middle of the floor, hung with a large selection of items obviously chosen to match tastes with their existing wardrobes. Their luggage sat next to it, and on a nearby coffee table was the large box containing the magical items from Madame Huan.
A note lay on the table next to all five of Stone’s notebooks:
Mr. Harrison has asked me to see to your needs. I hope the wardrobe meets with your approval. Please don’t hesitate to call me for anything else you might require, and please call when you awaken with your meal request. I can be reached by pressing the 1 key on your telephones.
Mr. Harrison asks that, for your own safety, you don’t leave your suite until he’s had a chance to speak with you this afternoon.
Best regards,
M. Nakamura
“It appears Mr. Harrison has assigned us a minder,” Stone said, his tone neutral.
Jason shrugged. “Doesn’t surprise me. He strikes me as the kind of guy who likes to keep track of what’s going on.”
“Well, if he’s offering to help,” Verity said, “and he doesn’t want us leaving until he shows up, then let’s call this Nakamura person and order some breakfast. I’m starving.”
“M. Nakamura” proved to be a slim young man in his mid-20s, dressed in a tailored black jacket with an electric blue Obsidian logo on the breast pocket. After they called with their breakfast order, he showed up personally twenty minutes later, introducing himself and pushing in an elegant cart laden with covered dishes. He spread them out on the room’s large dining table with maximum efficiency.
“Wow,” Jason said, “He’s got you delivering room service?”
Nakamura smiled. “Mr. Harrison thinks it would be best if as few people as possible were aware that you were our guests, Mr. Thayer.” He finished laying out the breakfast items, removing the lids from the dishes and returning them to the cart. “Is there anything else I can do for you? Were the wardrobes to your approval?”
“Excellent, thank you,” Stone said. Verity and Jason had opted to stick with their own clothes, but Stone wore a fine suit that fit him perfectly, after checking it over with care for magical traces. “Oh, and thank you for returning our items. I’m still a little dismayed that your people broke into my car to retrieve them, but given all the other things happening the last couple of days, that’s the least of my concerns, I think.”
Again, Nakamura smiled. He seemed genuinely pleasant, exuding all the warmth Harrison did not. “I’m glad you understand, Dr. Stone. If there’s nothing else I can do for any of you now, I’ll be on my way. Mr. Harrison will wish to see you later this afternoon—I’ll come to collect you then. Until that time, your suite has numerous amenities, including state of the art audio and video, a fully stocked bar, a weight room, and a small swimming pool and Jacuzzi that you can reach via the door in the entryway. I hope you’ll forgive his request that you remain here until then, but he stresses that he’ll be unable to guarantee your safety if you leave the hotel.”
“Very luxurious,” Stone said. “Thank you. And I think we can manage to entertain ourselves for a few hours, as long as that’s all it is. I’m sure Mr. Harrison is aware that, safety or no, it won’t be practical for us to remain here indefinitely.”
“That was never his intent, Dr. Stone, I assure you. Please enjoy your meal.” Nakamura made a small bow and departed with the cart.
Even with all the luxuries provided in the suite, all three of them were waiting and ready when Nakamura showed up again a little after five o’clock.
“Where are we going?” Jason asked.
“Not far,” Nakamura said, leading them to the elevator. He entered a code and the elevator doors closed.
They opened on a hallway with another set of double doors at the end. Nakamura indicated these, but didn’t exit the elevator. “He’s expecting you. He’ll call me when you’re finished if I’m needed.”
This time, instead of a vast room with sweeping views, the doors opened on an office—still large, but much smaller than the other room. The decor was a similar style of spartan luxury, dominated by a large modern desk, its broad surface devoid of any personal items. Harrison, seated behind it, stood and nodded to them as they entered. This room, they noticed, had no windows.
“I trust the suite met with your approval,” Harrison said, sitting back down and motioning for them to do likewise in the black leather chairs in front of it.
“Yes, lovely,” Stone said. “Mr. Nakamura is quite attentive. And thank you for returning our property.”
“Those notebooks were intriguing,” Harrison said, nodding. “Very intriguing indeed.”
Stone raised an eyebrow. “If you’ll forgive me for saying so, Mr. Harrison, I’m surprised you found them so. You’re interested in portal science, then, are you?”
Harrison gave a slight smile. “I’m interested in anything that concerns magic and its applications, Dr. Stone.”
“I’m not surprised to hear that,” Stone said. “But it does surprise me that if you truly do have even an inkling of understanding about the contents of those notebooks, I haven’t heard of you before now. That sort of knowledge is difficult to hide, and as you know, growing increasingly rarer among our kind. As it is, I’ve got some background in portal science, and I can barely make sense of half of what’s in those books.”
Harrison didn’t reply directly. “In any case, Dr. Stone, that isn’t why I asked the three of you to this meeting. Now that we’ve apparently solved the issue of your safety while here at the hotel, I’ve turned my attention to what we need to do in order to allow you to move freely and safely around Las Vegas.” He paused. “Individuals possessed by the Evil don’t have any particular supernatural powers or other abilities, correct?”
Stone shook his head, gracefully conceding that Harrison wasn’t going to be any more forthcoming about his knowledge of portals. “No. They don’t have anything the host doesn’t have. So, for example, a host who’s an expert marksman will still be one when possessed, and someone who knows the codes to all your security keypads will still know them. But they won’t be ab
le to fly or read minds or anything.”
“And they can’t communicate in any way normal humans can’t?”
“Not once they’ve possessed a host. They’re stuck using the telephone or the post like the rest of us.”
Harrison nodded. “Good. That will help.”
“We don’t think the portal has been open long,” Verity said. “And unless they’re coming through a lot faster here than they did in West Virginia, there probably aren’t that many new ones floating around. So that should make it harder for them to get their act together. We probably have at least a little time when they won’t be on our tails. Remember, the only reason they knew where to find us before was that we responded to that fake call from Madame Huan.” Stone had called his friend earlier that day while they waited in the suite—as he suspected, she’d assured him that the call had not come from her, and that she was fine. She promised to increase her security measures to ensure that the Evil didn’t come after her.
“Although they did seem to know we were staying at that place,” Jason reminded her. “So that’s something.”
“What did you have in mind, Mr. Harrison?” Stone asked before the two of them launched off into more speculation.
Harrison slipped a hand into the inner pocket of his jacket and withdrew something they couldn’t see. “If what you say about the Evil is correct, they don’t tend to concern themselves with tourists, focusing instead on locals and anyone who attracts their attention, for whatever reason. I think in order to have the best chance to avoid notice, you should present yourselves as tourists. You’ll blend in with the rest of the crowds, and lower the odds that they will single you out.”